1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a contact roller system of a winding machine for thin strip material, in particular, a slitter rewinder for longitudinally slitting thin materials into individual strips and winding the individual strips onto slit rolls. The system comprises contact roller segments which are moved against the slit rolls during the winding process by means of a drive and are supported end face to end face adjacent to one another so as to be freely rotatable.
2. Description of the Related Art
The contact roller segments of a known contact roller system of this kind disclosed in German patent application 198 05 412 A1 for a winding machine for winding thin strip material are provided in order to prevent as much as possible the introduction of air into wound material of the slits rolls, in particular, at high winding speeds, and to ensure proper winding of the strip material in this way.
The contact position and the contact pressure of each contact roller segment of the contact roller system are individually adjustable in order to compensate unavoidable diameter differences of the strip rolls. Each contact roller segment is freely rotatably supported at its end faces on two lateral bearing plates which are fastened on a carriage arranged on a transverse beam and movable by means of a linear drive perpendicularly to the axis of rotation of the slit roll toward and away from the slit roll.
In order to keep the gap between two neighboring contact roller segments as small as possible so as to prevent markings on the wound strip material, in the known contact roller system the lateral bearing plates of two neighboring contact roller segments are arranged alternatingly above and below the axis of rotation of the roller segments perpendicularly to the movement direction thereof during advancing against the slit rolls.
The configuration of this known contact roller system is complex because for supporting each contact roller segment two bearing plates with two axle supports must be provided. A further disadvantage of the contact roller system is to be seen in that the control of the contact position of the contact roller segments, which changes constantly as a result of the changing winding diameter of the slit rolls, operates imprecisely based on a linear movement of the roller segments.
It is an object of the present invention to improve a contact roller system of a winding machine for thin strip material of the aforementioned kind with respect to its configuration and the control of the contact position of the contact roller segments.
In accordance with the present invention, this is achieved by providing pivot levers, arranged on a shaft in a row adjacent to one another and provided with an actuating drive as well as with two contact roller segments on opposite sides of the pivot levers, which contact roller segments are freely rotatably supported on an axis of rotation parallel to the pivot axis of the pivot levers, wherein the axes of rotation of the contact roller segment pairs have a common pivot radius and wherein a gap required for the rotational movement of the roller segments is formed between two neighboring contact roller segments, respectively.
By furnishing the contact roller system according to the invention with pivot levers, arranged on a common rotary shaft in a row adjacent to one another and provided with an actuating drive, the pivot levers having on opposed sides two contact roller segments that are supported on axle supports so as to be freely rotatable on an axis of rotation that is parallel to the pivot axis of the pivot levers, a constructive simplification relative to the contact roller system according to the prior art is realized. The system according to the invention enables an optimal control of the contact position of the individual contact roller segments on the slit rolls during winding of thin material strips.